Our next big objective is to eliminate our housing expenses by purchasing a triplex or fourplex using my VA benefits.

Not interested in home hacking. 

If the numbers aren't there yet, I'd suggest focus on growing your income, look into house hacking as previously suggested, or consider partnering with other investors who can qualify for the loans.

@Sebastian AlborsIn my experience, buying a single-family home (SFH) in Asheville and house hacking with a family member like your brother can be a smart way to balance costs.

Because you are forcing equity into the house you are sometimes able to pull back out the entire purchase and rehab process to return to your investor then you own the home with just the mortgage.

I have concepts that I hope to expand on, strategies that stick out to me when reading and podcast so far are buy and hold properties, the BRRRR method, and house hacking.

You can also start exploring a house hack to utilize the lower DP

Once you graduate and have a steady income, consider house hacking as a beginner-friendly strategy—buying a small multifamily property, living in one unit, and renting out the others to offset your mortgage.

Doing MTR inside of your own house is not something I think trends that well.

Are you looking to househack or rent both sides out?